A Collection a Day...the book!

Even though I'd followed the blog all of 2010 (still have the link to the left on my blogroll), I had to have the book. It arrived last week and I love it. I think you can only get it from UPPERCASE and it's on sale right now!  Lisa Congdon has a new blog for 2012....365 Days of Hand Lettering.

Southern California Dreaming.

About this time of year in the Pacific Northwest I start day dreaming of moving back to Southern California...actually the real dream is I live there October through April and up here May through September - the best of both worlds. This home designed by Pamela Shamshiri for Commune in the Dec/Jan issue of House Beautiful feeds my dream.

Gosling/Museum meme

I don't really know what a meme is, but I do know I like this one. So funny.  You can see lots more here.

Country Living.

Cute, cute pincushions to make from the February issue of Country Living magazine.
Find the instructions here.

And from the same issue.....wish I was going here...

Tea towel.

One of my lovely Christmas gifts! 

From my friend Sally...a gorgeous tea towel from Anthropologie. 

Happy back to work and school day everyone!

Good morning!

from the iPhone this morning!

Happy New Year!

I know it sounds very cliché, but I really cannot believe it's 2012!  My youngest is turning 18 and graduating from high school this spring.  I remember thinking about this year back in 1994 when she was born, thinking it was so far off, and many times since wishing it would come faster. Now that it's actually here I'm sad, and happy. Sad to see her leave, but happy to watch her begin this new stage in life and happy to begin one too.

Well, there are many other things to note this year (as I read in Better Homes & Gardens):

• There are three Friday the 13ths...January, April and July.
• It's a leap year...do something out of the ordinary on February 29th!
• It's the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking on April 14th.
• The Simpsons turns 25 in April (and I've never seen it).
• The Summer Olympics will be in London July 27th through August 12th.
• And it's a Presidential Election year...here in the USofA!

We have a winner!

Congratulations EverydayMe!  I'll be putting the teabag cards in the mail to you on Tuesday. Thank you to all who entered my little giveaway and thank you for being a follower. I wish you all a very happy new year...see you in 2012!  xo Joan

Happy Christmas and a giveaway!

Well here it is Christmas Eve.  I'm going to take a little break and be back on the 31st. In the meantime I'd like to giveaway a set of five of my teabag cards to one of my blog followers (so if you're not already a follower click on the "join this site" button on the left). Leave a comment by midnight on the 30th and I'll announce the winner on the 31st.  I wish everyone a holiday filled with love, peace and joy!  xo Joan

The view from here.

This is my view from the morning bus to work...not bad.
That's Mt. Rainier that you can just about make out in the distance.

 Happy Friday of a long weekend everyone! Enjoy!

Enjoying the season.

Just a couple of things to share this morning...I'm loving this beautiful button garland that I purchased from the Ballard Designs catalog and a gorgeous centerpiece delivered by my friend Tina yesterday. I can finally relax after work today. Yes, I still have a few Christmas things to get done, but I'll be done with work until Tuesday. I avoided the to-do list completely last night and went to see "Girl with the Dragon Tatoo." I couldn't watch parts of it, but otherwise very good!

Happy Hanukkah! Happy Winter!

Blessings to all of my Jewish friends and blessings to all of us for a safe, warm and short winter!

image found via this blog

New library book.

This book is definitely going on my wish list! I'm not sure where I heard about it, but I'd requested it from the library and picked it up yesterday.  Hand Made Home, Living with Art and Craft by Mark and Sally Bailey is a must-have, gorgeous book.

 I can see my own home in this book...with a little less clutter. 

Finally!

With less than a week 'til Christmas I'm just starting to hand-print my cards! This is so un-Virgo-like of me, but I have been working so much that I really could not find the time.

'Tis the Season!

It's only one week until Christmas day and I haven't sent out my cards. I haven't even made them! I don't think everyone is getting handmade this year. I'm only working two days this week, so I plan to get a lot done...starting today. Hope yours is jolly!

Recycling.

Stools made from egg cartons. Article and photo from the NYTimes. Blogger is still missing a bunch of buttons. Any other bloggers having this problem? Here's the link for you to cut and paste into your browser.....
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/garden/turning-egg-cartons-into-stools-what-you-make-of-it.html?_r=2&ref=garden

Happy Friday!

Golden Globe Nominations.

The Golden Globe nominations are being announced this morning. I'm so glad "Moneyball" made it into the best picture category. I loved this movie and I'm not so much a Brad Pitt fan, but he was really great in it!

10 days 'til Christmas!

Uppercase Magazine has free downloadable gift tags! Right now I don't have all my editing options on blogger, not sure what's up so click on UPPERCASE to the left on my blogroll and you'll get there.

Books as gifts.

I love giving books as gifts. I gave these two to my co-workers. DISH was the perfect choice for my boss who collects old dishes. It's almost like a dish encyclopedia. My only worry was that he get 10 more copies from people that really know him. Renate, the cook and cookbook writer, got PLENTY. I already want my own copy of this one...great recipes. (I gave them these last Friday at our staff day, so I'm not spilling the beans here.)

jovial.

My daughter has developed a gluten sensitivity so we're trying to cut it out as much as possible. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be....there are so many options at our local grocery store and we have two bakeries on the island that make a gluten-free loaf. How could you not like a pasta called "jovial?" We tried it last night and it was delicious!